A federal judge on Thursday refused to allow a Russian firm to escape charges it conspired to sow discord in the U.S. electorate leading up to the 2016 election, marking the second time the company lost a challenge to allegations brought by Special Counsel Robert Mueller III.

U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich, a Trump appointee who took the bench in December, rejected Concord Management and Consulting’s argument that the special counsel had failed to allege a conspiracy violating federal law. The Russian firm’s defense lawyers at Reed Smith had attacked the indictment as charging the “make believe” crime of interfering in an election.